The Tool Desk
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Assess the risk before changing settings
Before an assignment, consider what an adversary could learn from your devices and accounts, not just whether your phone is password-protected. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) recommends assessing risks before assignments and tailoring safeguards to the information involved in its Digital Safety Kit, first published in 2019 and updated February 20, 2026.
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- Who might target you? Consider whether the risk comes from opportunistic theft, a targeted attempt to access accounts, inspection at a checkpoint or border, or someone who can physically access your devices.
- What is exposed? List sensitive contacts, conversations, notes, recordings, photos, documents, account sessions, and information stored in cloud services linked to the phone.
- Who else could be affected? A source, colleague, family member, or local contact may face consequences if their identity or communications are revealed.
- What could happen to the device? Plan for loss, theft, an unlocked phone, an inspection, or a period when the phone is outside your control. Each scenario may require different precautions.
Use the answers to decide what data and accounts need to be available during the assignment and what can be left behind. If you face a specific imminent threat or believe a device or account is already compromised, seek specialist digital-security support rather than relying on a routine checklist.
Secure the accounts connected to your phone
An attacker who gets into email or another account may gain access to information beyond what is stored locally on the phone. Harden important accounts before travel, while you still have reliable access to recovery options.
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- Use a distinct, long password for each important account. Do not reuse a password across email, messaging, social media, cloud storage, or work services. A password manager can help store unique passwords, but choose one only after assessing whether it is appropriate for your situation; no specific service is established here as the right choice for every reporter.
- Turn on two-factor authentication where the service supports it. Check the provider’s account-security settings and confirm you can use the method while travelling. Store backup codes somewhere separate from the phone and protect them as carefully as the account password.
- Consider a hardware security key if targeted account hacking is a concern. CPJ advises journalists at high risk of hacking to consider a security key, giving YubiKey as an example. Check that the specific account and service support the key before relying on it. A FIDO security key can help with account sign-in; it does not protect a phone from seizure, spyware, or coercion.
- Prepare for phishing. Be cautious with unexpected links, attachments, login prompts, and requests for codes—even when a message appears to come from someone you know. Verify unusual requests through a separate channel you trust.
- Check recovery access before departure. Make sure recovery email addresses and phone numbers are current and that you can reach them without depending on a device or account that may be unavailable during the assignment.
CPJ’s digital-security checklist for journalists in exile, published June 16, 2023 and updated February 6, 2026, and its guidance on digital safety for journalists in exile, updated February 6, 2026, offer additional account-protection advice for targeted threats.
Reduce the phone’s exposure
Before leaving, update the phone’s operating system and apps, then use a strong PIN or password for the screen lock. Turn on device encryption where available. These steps can reduce some risks, but they do not make a phone safe if it is unlocked, compromised, or physically controlled by someone else.
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- Review what is stored locally. Remove or securely transfer material that is not needed on the assignment and whose exposure could endanger a source or colleague. Check contacts, conversation histories, downloaded files, photos, recordings, and notes.
- Check what syncs to cloud accounts. Review whether contacts, messages, photos, or files are copied to a cloud service, and whether that account contains older material you no longer need. Deleting a local copy may not remove copies elsewhere.
- Review app access. Check which apps can access location, contacts, microphone, camera, photos, or files. Limit access that is not needed for the assignment, while considering whether changing a setting could disrupt a tool you rely on.
- Make a backup before travel. CPJ’s Digital Safety Kit recommends backing up material before travel. Keep the backup somewhere separate from the phone and consider whether it, too, contains information that could put people at risk. An external drive is not necessarily encrypted; verify the features of any specific drive rather than assuming it protects stored files.
Decide in advance what information must remain available in the field and what should not travel with you. Keep only what the assignment requires, and coordinate with an editor or security adviser when deciding how to preserve reporting material without carrying unnecessary source data.
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Travel creates a distinct physical-access risk: a device that leaves your sight may be inspected, copied, or tampered with. CPJ’s Digital Safety Kit includes guidance on border crossing. Encryption can protect data in some circumstances, but it does not guarantee protection against inspection, compelled access, or a device being taken.
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| Approach | When it may fit | What to plan for |
|---|---|---|
| Travel with your usual phone, after reviewing and minimizing its data | When you need the phone’s established accounts, contacts, or work tools and the assessed risk is manageable. | Back up first; remove material that is not needed and could harm people if exposed; review local copies and cloud sync; protect the phone with a strong PIN or password. |
| Use a separate travel device | When the amount or sensitivity of information on your usual phone makes carrying it an avoidable risk, and a separate device is practical. | Plan which accounts and data must be accessible, and what will remain off the travel device. A separate device is not automatically secure; configure and manage it with the same threat assessment. |
| Carry only the minimum necessary devices and accounts | When even a separate device would expose more information than the assignment requires. | Confirm how you will communicate and work with less access. Make sure essential recovery methods do not depend on an account or device you have left behind. |
Before crossing a border, check the local legal conditions around encryption and consider getting advice from a qualified local source or digital-security specialist. Do not assume that a device, passcode, or encrypted backup will prevent access when a device is seized or you are required to unlock it.
Protect sources when communicating
End-to-end encryption can protect message content in transit between communicating parties, but it does not make a compromised or unlocked phone safe. It also does not necessarily conceal metadata, such as information about who communicated and when. Consider the source’s risk as well as your own when choosing how to communicate and what to retain.
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- Choose a communication method appropriate to the threat and the source’s circumstances; no single app is best for every country or situation.
- Limit sensitive details in messages when they are not needed, and consider how long conversations should remain on devices or in synced accounts.
- Discuss safe retention with sources and editors where possible. Deleting a conversation from one phone may not delete copies held by another participant or a cloud service.
- Do not treat a secure messaging app as a substitute for securing the phone, accounts, and people who can access them.
CPJ’s U.S. journalist safety kit is additional guidance for its stated U.S. context; it was published in 2024 and should not be treated as a universal statement of local law or risk.
Get specialist help early if the risk is specific or active
Access Now’s Digital Security Helpline describes a free, 24/7 service for eligible civil-society users, including journalists and media organizations, offering technical advice and rapid-response support. Its Helpline Mandate explains eligibility and vetting. Access Now states that it responds to requests within two hours; that is its stated response target, not a guarantee that every request will be accepted or that an incident will be resolved within that time.
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- Frontal Ultra HD & Original Touch: IMBZBK's privacy protector break through the defects of the blurred picture of the privacy glass films on the market, highly restore the best visual feast brought by the screen. Even more special...Our 0.28mm ultra-thin privacy glass innovatively applied a 9th gen oleophobic nano coating (top-notch skin-friendly), effectively reduces fingerprints, oil residue by 98% to make it smoother than the original screen!
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If an account may be under active attack or a device may be compromised, avoid making major changes on that device until you have advice if doing so could alert an attacker or destroy useful evidence. Use a separate, trusted channel to contact a specialist or your organization’s security lead, and describe what happened, when, which accounts or devices may be affected, and whether anyone faces immediate danger.
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